When most kids came home from school and relaxed

When most kids came home from school and relaxed she was faced with a series of chores. After her father’s death, Tara and her mother Diane continued to manage the farm, feeding cattle and cultivating herbs after school and on the weekends. In addition, Tara holds a job at The Inn in Little Washington where she has worked as a gardener and is presently employed as a maid.

Tara is very modest about her achievements. When questioned, she is reluctant to elaborate on her awards and accomplishments. Asked about her proficiency in so many languages, she comments that although they did not come easily, they were not as difficult as math. Yet, her Russian instructor, Nancy Lowry, painted a different picture, saying that Tara picked up a language quickly, knew how to use it, and more importantly was willing to use it.

English instructor Lee Buratti best summarized this extraordinary young woman. “If genius is the combination of incisive thinking skills, the need to create, and that je ne sais quoi that the 18th century called wit, then Tara Welty possesses genius. But what is genius but an inconceivable term applied by statisticians to label a specimen and Tara is no specimen. What she radiates is the need not to be defined and limited, what she seems to pursue most consciously is wholeness. Underpinned by her multi-fold interest in her expansive reading, her disdain for hypocrisy and dishonesty, her enjoyment of nature, and her willingness to work hard — this pursuit of the full life evinces Tara’s discovery at a much younger age than most that a rich inner life is as important to a successful career. Knowing her desire to excel, her exuberant spirit and her perceptive intellect, I have no doubt that her future efforts will be as rewarding as her Wakefield studies have been.”